Your Fiery Furnace

I'm thinking of the story in Daniel Chapter 3 of the three Hebrew children and how the king was enraged with anger when he heard that they would not fall down and worship his gods at the sound of the music. He ordered them to be brought to him, and as they came to him, King Nebuchadnezzar, threatened Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego with an ultimatum in order to force them to fall down and worship his gods when the music sounded, or be thrown into a burning fiery furnace. I love their reply to the king. On first name basis and without even referring to him as king, they basically said in a polite way...We don't have to answer to you because our God will deliver us, but if He doesn't...we still won't serve your gods! Now that is what you call holy boldness! The king however was enraged and ordered the furnace to be heated seven times hotter than it usually was. The Word says that the three Hebrew children were bound with their clothes on, taken up, and dropped into the midst, which is the central interior part of the flaming furnace. Being that the flame was exceedingly hot, flames leaped up out of the furnace and killed those men who threw them in, yet King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished and quickly rose to his feet asking his counselors, "Didn't we throw three men in the fire?"  When they said, "Yes, O King,"  Nebuchadnezzar replied by telling them that now there are four men in the middle of the fire, and they are walking around without any hurt; the form of the fourth one is like the Son of God. Well, the king quickly brought the three out and had a whole different attitude towards them, also. He called them servants of the Most High God at that point, and made a new decree honoring the one true God! Their attitude in this story is what strikes me the most. They were saying...we trust our God to deliver us no matter how the circumstances look, but if He doesn't, we'll serve Him anyway!!! I truly believe that this is the very reason why they experienced deliverance. They had an attitude of complete faith! They were settled to serve God not only in the good, but also in the bad. They knew in whom they trusted, and they believed He was who He said He was. Whatever we trust God to be to us, He will be. Notice that when they stood up to the king, God still allowed them to be cast into the furnace. He could have stopped them from being thrown in at all, but He didn't, and what glory He got out of that situation! I believe that many times when we go through fiery trials, we are right where God wants us. He is with us, and His purpose is to get glory out of our bad circumstances. We just have to talk to the devil a bit, and let him know that God will deliver us, but if for some reason He doesn't, we're still gonna serve Him anyway! Let the devil know that you ain't gonna turn and serve him out of fear. Oh, no...I don't think so!!! God is much bigger than any situation that looks impossible in our lives; He is more than enough! He is Jehovah- Nissi, The Lord our Victory who redeems our life from the pit. His Word says, "He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." The key phrase here is, "according to the power that works in us." We see the meaning of this phrase lived in action through this story in the Book of Daniel. This word power spoke of here dwells within every born-again Christian, and is activated by faith. God honors faith, which is complete trust in His ability. I don't trust myself one single bit, however I know that God is my deliverer; He is able! If you have a fiery trial in your life today, surrender to God no matter what your circumstances look like, and when you're thrown further into the midst of it, it cannot harm you because He is with you; He is faithful. He will show up, and prove that we are His!